Brandel Chamblee brands LIV an “insult to the integrity of competition”

Golf Channel analyst Brandel Chamblee has labelled LIV Golf’s format an “insult to the integrity of competition.”

In a scathing attack on the Greg Norman-fronted circuit, the 61-year-old called the competition “laughable” before claiming he wouldn’t take the money.

Speaking on the No Laying Up podcast, Chamblee questioned players’ desire to win the individual tournament.

“They’re out there playing music and taking pictures,” he said. “The individual competition is not as important as the team competition, so you come to the last hole, and you need a birdie to win the individual and a par to win the team, are you really trying to make a birdie?

“If you take the risk and the team loses, there’s hell to pay, so it’s an insult to the integrity of competition.

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“You’re not meant to win golf tournaments on the third hole or the fourth hole. There’s a reason you pay architects to build a crescendo of drama and they give great thought to how they want a championship or day of a round to play out.

“You’re meant to have a sequence of order in championships, so set aside where the money comes from – which is devious and demented – but let’s just look at the competition, it’s laughable.”

LIV’s team competition and 54-hole format have raised eyebrows since the league’s inception in 2022, whilst leading to complexities in gaining access to the OWGR.

The format didn’t deter the likes of Jon Rahm, who Chamblee called a “little sideshow in a vaudeville act” or Brooks Koepka.

And Chamblee admits that is to the detriment of the professional game.

“Do I miss those players? Hell yeah, I miss seeing Jon Rahm play, I miss Bryson DeChambeau, I miss watching Brooks Koepka. You get to see them at majors, but I’m p****d that they are gone.”

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Meanwhile, the former PGA Tour winner claimed he would not have followed suit, had LIV Golf come calling in his playing days.

Chamblee – not for the first time – took aim at the breakaway stars for swooping on the opportunity to fill their bank accounts but insists he would not have been swayed.

“It’s a fair enough assumption of anyone to say you would take it, but I’d like to think I wouldn’t take it,” he added.

“Does money make some things easier, that kind of money? Yeah, it does. It’s easy to say I wouldn’t take the money but when you start to think of the corruption of that kind of money and the impetus to your kids to go out and hustle to make money.

“I wake up in the morning and I don’t think of the money.”

John Turnbull A graduate of the University of Stirling, John joined the bunkered team in 2023 as a Content Producer, with a responsibility for covering all breaking news, tour news, grassroots content and much more besides. A keen golfer, he plays the majority of his golf at Falkirk Golf Club. Top of his 'bucket list' is a round of Pebble Beach... ideally in the company of Gareth Bale.